Obama trumps Romney in Berkeley cookie poll

November 5, 2012, noon… With just hours to go until election day 2012, Berkeley’s Obama-Romney cookie war rages on, with sales of the Obama sugar cookies continuing to outsell the Romney cookies by a margin of three-to-one, and then some.

As of 9:00 a.m. today, Virginia Bakery at 1690 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley had sold 652 Obama cookies to 192 Romney cookies, as displayed on the whiteboard behind the counter that has been tracking sales since the cookies were first introduced, right after the Republican and Democratic conventions. Results are also being posted on the bakery’s Facebook page.

Word of the political cookies has spread beyond Berkeley, with orders coming in from around the country. A private party in Louisiana ordered 20 cookies — 16 Romneys to four Obamas — via overnight mail, according to Anne Erdmann, who co-owns the business with her husband and chief baker John Erdmann. Orders have also come in from Sacramento, Orange County and Oregon.

John Erdmann with presidential cookies. Photo: Brenda Kahn

Here at home, the preference for Obama cookies has been fairly steady.

“We’ve had people come and turn the Romney cookies over,” said sales clerk Maria Casiano.

The bakery is gearing up for an expected spike in sales today and tomorrow, and will continue to offer the cookies for a few days post-election. Cookies for the winner will be reintroduced around the inauguration in January.